I spent the first 20 years of my career selling on the floor talking to the customers. Invariably many would bring in a Consumer Reports and ask about reliability (as you should). How does anyone really know without some kind of sales versus service equation.

One of the benefits of having a huge service department is data collection. We will be in approximately 130-150 homes today fixing appliances, with a good portion being less than a year old and under warranty. That is 650 homes per week (at least) or roughly 34,000 calls yearly not including homes with multiple calls. That’s the math behind this post. It's sales generated versus warranty service calls within 1 year.

I should tell you this article is consistently unfair. Any time a service tech is sent to your house, it counts as a service call. It does not matter what the call actually is. Often times it’s a simple adjustment, but it counts as a call if you need us to do it.

So the question is, what are we fixing the least?

Before you look: We dont "scrub" the data, so there is no distinction between a minor and major issue. Although it is consistent for every manufacturer actual real problems would be lower by roughly 1-2%. The more difficult brands to install would be weighted to the higher percentage. These are raw numbers for sales vs service calls in 2014.

Honorable Mentions

We are talking appliance brands, but disposers seem to never break. We sold 930 of our own brand and 50 Waste Kings without a service call.

Weber Grills is number 2 at an astounding 1.33% or 829 sold and only 11 service calls. Then again, we assemble these grills for free when we deliver them, and that’s the major problem. The grills are just elements and grates. What should go wrong?

Number 2 would be hoods. Yale, Best, Zephyr and Faber are at a combined 5% with 2,600 units sold. Hoods should be low, because a hood basically moves air. It's not a complicated product. There is very little user error with ventilation as well.

Least Serviced / Most Reliable Appliance Brands

(minimum of 200 units sold in a 12 month year)

10 - Electrolux

5594 Units Sold / 1014 Serviced - 18.13% Service in the first year

Electrolux is a nice comeback story, since their refrigerator issues of 4 years ago. The company is also very accommodating with fixing units in field with good technical support.

9 - Thermador

4490 Units Sold / 785 Serviced - 17.48%

Thermador has always been a high performer since its acquisition from its German parent, Bosch.

8 - Wolf

1597 Units Sold / 256 Serviced - 16.03%

Family owned companies like Wolf (or Yale) take user experience very seriously. Premium products are also more heavily scrutinized than regular appliances.

7 - U-Line

571 Units Sold / 89 Serviced - 15.59%

Undercounter refrigerators and especially icemakers are amongst the most repaired items sold. U-Line is a rare exception.

6 - Maytag

1758 Units Sold / 241 Serviced - 13.71%

Maytag is a division of Whirlpool now and is really a relabeled Whirlpool product. There was a time when you bought a Maytag washer for its longeivity. Then, the Neptune fiasco forced a buyout at a reduced price.

5 - Bosch

11,030 Units Sold / 1392 Serviced - 12.62%

Bosch Benchmark

265 Units Sold / 26 serviced - 9.81%

No surprise here. German companies have always been about process and quality control. Bosch is perhaps the best overall brand sold for reliability.

4 - LG

425 Units Sold / 46 Serviced - 11.82%

This is a huge improvement, because LG has never been that reliable. Perhaps they are sick of reading nightmare stories on the internet. Still tough on the process side with little support.

3 - Frigidaire

8706 Units Sold / 800 Serviced - 9.19%

Frigidaire Gallery

2521 Units Sold / 334 Serviced - 13.25%

I love this line. It’s a good value and breaks less than any other widely sold brand.

2 - Amana

546 Units Sold / 41 Serviced - 7.51%

This one shocked me. Then again, we only sell their basic line of stoves and dishwashers, which typically break less than laundry and French door refrigerators. Frigidaire is more impressive because we sell a more volatile mix of product.

1 - Miele

1536 Units Sold / 84 Serviced - 5.47%

Miele has dishwashers and laundry perfected. We very rarely see issues because they produce every component themselves rather than outsource. However, their numbers have trended upwards with refrigeration. It will be interesting to see how their new professional range performs.

The industry average for appliance service is roughly 18-24% within the first year. It should be noted that certain products need more repair like refrigeration (especially French doors) and laundry. Stoves and cooking typically need less.

So there it is the most mathematically reliable appliances. However, it is no guarantee that your Miele will work flawlessly along with your Frigidaire stove and Bosch wall oven. Along with reliability, I would inquire about the companies ability to handle issues like parts, technical support and returns.

In my experience in this area, Frigidaire, Bosch and Whirlpool are the most responsible. In some ways this means almost as much as reliability. Problems do occur. You want your store and your brand to assist when they do.

Share This Article

What ar.e your thoughts on quality/reliability of the kitchen aid KF1S29pbms? I like the features specifically dual evapors, produce preserver, 3 tier freezer door, in door water dispenser I haven't seen too many reviews on this appliance.

Kevin

Would it be possible to do the quality / reliability calculation within individual verticals? For example, for all cooktops, what is the % repairs for products sold and list all the vendors? Then do the same for the fridge, then the microwave, etc. Its hard to grasp reliability on the current list. Thanks!

We consider Thermador a different brand than Bosch. It vis manufactured in different factories and is unique(other than the dishwasher

Cynthia

Your objective appliance analysis and recommendations are incredibly valuable. Thank you sooooooo much for putting it out here for clueless homeowners (like me) to read. I'm on the west coast so can't repay your generosity by giving you my business. All I can give is my heartfelt thanks!

Best wishes!!!!

Steve Sheinkopf

I will be able to break this down by product category......stay tuned

Valerie Reynolds

Your website and blog have been a great help as we plan our kitchen remodel. I have downloaded the guides and read many articles. What I can not find are reports on the appliances actual performance. Ie, how well do the dishwashers clean, refrigerators cool and freeze, how well do the oven bake, etc? Likely I am missing it somewhere as there is so much information to absorb and a short time to do so. Any advice or articles you could recommend ?

We talk features in the comparisons....Most of the reliability is straight math from service, but performance is different and can be subjective. Look at some of our Best articles by product as well as comparison where we distinguih different features

Google anything you love, and you will see hundreds of people who despise it. You have to find a store who competently services the products. That being said, Thermador is about 4-6% more reliable than Jenn-Air statistically.....not by much

Jim Kite

Quality is a thing of the past with just about everything now.It pays to do your homework and in many cases buy good used. People need to stick together and show manufactuers consummmers can and will send them to bankruptcy. I have no respect for any brand if it is low quality. These sleazebags could build a quality product if they wanted too but are blinded by greed. When I get burned I will go out of my way to never purchase a product made or in any way related to that company again. The part I cannot understand is why do people keep buying proven crap brands.

Joyce Edelson

Thank you for your excellent buying guides. As I have not updated any appliances in over 20 years they have been so very helpful. The last date you blog regarding reliability is 2012. Is there any updated information as it is now the end of 2014. You indicated in a prior post that you consider Thermador and Bosch as two different brands as is Jenn Air yet they all belong to the same umbrella family. Is it just design or are there actual reliability and manufacturing issues that should be considered when deciding between these brands. Also they seem to offer packages but is that such a good idea when it comes to quality. Thank you so much for providing this help.

Steve Sheinkopf

Thermador and Bosch are different brands with different products owned by the same company. They do, however, have the same refrigerator and dishwasher...so it really depends on the actual product
I am in the process of redoing the reliability indexes. We will be reposting within 2 weeks
Thank you for your comments

David

Thank you for this valuable blog post.
I'm a bit confused by the lack of Samsung on this list, as well as the most serviced list. Surely they didn't place on either one. Or is this a brand your company sells, but does not service?

Steve Sheinkopf

David,
There are companies not included in either list, because they were neither the most or least reliable. Sub-Zero would be one, Jenn-Air, GE(when we sold them) as well as Samsung and a few others
Hope this helps.
Steve

Sherree McKellar

So, if you could have any appliance in the world, what dishwasher would you choose? Which 48 inch built in refrigerator with exterior water and ice with ability to be paneled to match kitchen? Which induction stove top? Do you review wine preservation units and if so can you make a recommendation?

Lori

Really love these posts and rely on them. You have convinced me to replace my Bosch dishwasher with a Miele when the time comes, and to look at some other brands, such as Frigidaire, with new eyes. Would love to see a similar post of 5-year old (or maybe 7-year old) repairs; that is, the percentage of repair calls on items you sold 5 (or 7) years ago. It would give one an idea of how brands fare over time.

Steve Sheinkopf

Good idea......appliances seem to last 6-10 years currently. It would be interesting to project service out 5 years